Dev Container

Space Robotics Bench includes a Dev Container configuration via devcontainer.json that you can customize for your development needs.

Prerequisites

Before opening SRB in a Dev Container, make sure your host has:

• Docker Engine installed and working
• NVIDIA Container Toolkit installed if you want GPU-backed Isaac Sim
• xauth installed if you want Isaac Sim GUI forwarding
• an X11 session available when you want Isaac Sim GUI forwarding
• Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
• the Dev Containers extension
• the code CLI available on your host if you want to use the helper script below

The Dev Container uses the repository Dockerfile, mounts your local checkout into /root/ws, forwards X11, and reuses host-side Omniverse / shader caches to avoid rebuilding them every time.

Open in VS Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) users can open the repository as a Dev Container with the Dev Containers extension:

1. Open the repository folder in VS Code:

   code /path/to/space_robotics_bench
   

2. Run Dev Containers: Reopen in Container from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).

VS Code will build the image (if needed) and attach to the container automatically. First build can take a while because it builds the full SRB image.

If you have the VS Code CLI installed, the repository also provides a shortcut:

./.devcontainer/open.bash

Verify Container Setup

Once attached, verify core pieces before starting heavier workflows:

nvidia-smi
srb --help
srb cache update
echo "$DISPLAY"

If you only need terminal access to an already-running SRB container, .docker/join.bash is lighter than opening a second VS Code window.